Capital of the Steamwheedle Cartel and home to goblinhood's finest engineers, alchemists, and merchants.

The neutral goblin trading outpost of Gadgetzan is the only spot of civilization in the entire desert of Tanaris. Explorers can find most gear that they need here, as well as a place to escape from the blistering sun and other dangers of the desert.[1] Rising out of the northern Tanaris desert like an oasis, Gadgetzan (Gadgetzar or Gadgetar in some tongues) is the headquarters of the Steamwheedle Cartel, the largest of the Goblin Cartels. Here some of the best goblin engineers, miners and alchemists play their trade. The goblins believe in profit above loyalty, thus Gadgetzan is considered neutral territory in the Horde/Alliance conflict. Anyone with a fat wallet or services to offer is welcome in Gadgetzan. Both governments officially recognize goblin neutrality, and for those who don't, the streets are heavily patrolled by goblin bruisers ready to pound to a pulp anyone disrupting their trade by instigating conflict. Why the goblins choose to build their trading towns in such inhospitable locations is anyone's guess, but once again, they defy logic and the hot sun with their wondrous city of Gadgetzan.

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Although the goblins' neutrality is almost universally acknowledged, there are still those who seek to sow chaos and anarchy. For Gadgetzan, this comes in the form of the Wastewander bandits, a gang of miscreants who have occupied the Waterspring Field and Noonshade Ruins of northeast Tanaris. Few goblins care about ancient ruins (unless they have treasure) – for all they care, the bandits can have the old blocks of stone.

However, the Waterspring Field is vital to the goblins' survival in the desert, providing them with the liquid gold of the desert. Water towers out in the field were constructed under the blazing heat of the desert sun by the backbreaking work of their slaves, and by Az, the goblins aren't going to give up their hard earned towers that easily. However, the Bruisers need to stay in town to keep the gnomes' collective Napoleonic-complex from getting out of hand and to stop the seemingly endless dueling among the various visitors from disrupting business. Therefore, it falls to brave mercenaries from all corners of the world to help the goblins in their time of utmost need.

In the center of Gadgetzan is a cage. It has one door on the north side. The walls of the cage block the neutral guards' line-of-sight, allowing Horde and Alliance to gank or otherwise slaughter each other to their content within it. However this must have been changed in a recent patch. If you try to fight inside the cage the guards will run in and beat you to a pulp!
The cage is actually used for quests. Dr. Dealwell, a goblin right outside on the north side, will offer quests involving promoted fights.

Gadgetzan is located in Tanaris. It can be accessed by traveling through Thousand Needles and across the Shimmering Flats, using a mountain pass on the southern edge of the flats to travel into Tanaris. The town is built at the base of the pass.

An alternate way to reach Gadgetzan for Alliance players is to swim south along the coast from Theramore.

You can also take a portal to Caverns of time and run to Gadgetzan from there.

Players who've specialized in Gnomish Engineering can build a gadget that can teleport them directly to Gadgetzan.

GADGETZAN – Sitting like a sapphire on the silvery-white sands of Tanaris, Gadgetzan is one of the greatest cities of Kalimdor and, to hear goblins speak, of the world itself. Using their ingenuity, the goblins of the Steamwheedle Cartel have tamed the desert and erected a trading outpost the likes of which none have seen before. This city is open to both members of the Horde and Alliance, provided they keep their weapons sheathed. The city of Gadgetzan features a neutral bank, an auction house run by goblin auctioneers, and vendors galore.

The first of these, the bank, accepts deposits from both the Horde and the Alliance and, working with the banks in Orgrimmar, Undercity, and Thunder Bluff as well as the banks in Ironforge, Stormwind, and Darnassus, allows access to deposits made anywhere in the world. The agreements and technology that allows the goblins to access the other banks and deposits made in them is a closely guarded goblin secret.

The second feature is the Auction House. The auction house in Gadgetzan, to hear the goblins speak, puts the houses in Orgrimmar and Ironforge to shame. The Gadgetzan auction house allows members of the Alliance and the Horde to sell goods that can be purchased by anyone, even members of the opposing faction. One of the most popular trades made through the auction house is the lucrative "pet trade." On any given day, one can walk into the Gadgetzan auction house and see humans trading kittens to the Horde and the Tauren trading prairie dogs to the Alliance. Some speculate that the trade in cuddly creatures may cause the two sides to come to terms yet.

The third major feature of Gadgetzan is the sheer variety of vendors and professionals. In Gadgetzan, one can find materials for many professions from cooking to enchanting. A variety of armor and weapons is sold with no questions asked.

These three things alone make Gadgetzan an ideal city. The rest of the city's amenities, including an inn with beds for all races and sizes, a forge and anvil used and praised by the Mithril Order itself, a Stable Master who is an expert in handling animals from the world over, as well as transportation by Wyvern or Gryphon are just icing on the cake. Taken altogether, all of these things make Gadgetzan one of the greatest, if not THE greatest, city in the world.

That's not to say that Gadgetzan is perfect, of course. There are some minor problems that pester the people of this desert paradise. Small things like the Wastewander bandits who threaten the Waterspring Field. Adventurers who beat the bandits back earn the gratitude of the goblins and will be, in time, suitably rewarded. Of course, sometimes the problems come from the adventurers themselves. The Gadgetzan envisioned by the goblins is a trade haven but sometimes the Gadgetzan that really exists resembles a battlefield. Such battles are finished quickly once the Bruisers arrive on the scene, though, so future visitors need not worry overmuch about the violence they hear about in Gadgetzan. Aside from a few minor quirks, the city of Gadgetzan truly is the goblin-built jewel of Tanaris.

The ocean has flooded in close to the town, turning the area outside the eastern wall into beach-front property and obliterating Steamwheedle Port. Gadgetzan now functions as a port, and a new ship is being built just outside the town.

Although Gadgetzan looks like, and appears to be, a reference to the desert town of Mos Eisley from Star Wars, it is even likelier to be a reference to "Barter Town" in the movie Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome; the main area in which the movie is situated is located in a desert and has an arena in the middle, similar to the one in Gadgetzan. Further evidence of this is the NPC named Katrina Turner, whose name is very similar to Tina Turner, who played a lead part in that movie.